Culture

All the best queer memes inspired by Nintendo

Facts: ChuChu is smolgender. Kirby is agender and panromantic. The two are madly in love.

That’s according to Tumblr, which still maintains one of the internet’s largest de facto libraries of queer Nintendo memes. There are, to put it roughly, zillions of them. Perhaps more than any other gaming system, Nintendo is particularly (if unconsciously) adept at generating queer and trans characters and memes. Few of these characters are "out," per sé — there's a lot of projecting going on — but that doesn’t make them any less meaningful to the queer community.

It’s unclear how Nintendo got to be so queer, and it certainly doesn't appear intentional:

"Historically Nintendo has generally shied away from representing sexuality generally (though they do rely on heteronormativity to be sure)," Adrienne Shaw, associate professor at Temple University and founder of the LGBTQ Game Archive, told Mashable. "In part this is why of the major game companies they've also had relatively little explicit LGBTQ content."

In 2014, Nintendo actively removed a bug from Tomodachi Life that would have allowed for same-sex marriage. After considerable pressure from LGBTQ fans, Nintendo pledged to be more inclusive in the next version of the game. Whomp whomp.

The brand has been able to generate a queer fanbase because of its accessibility more than any other variable. Of all the gaming systems, Nintendo has one of the broadest audiences, attracting serious gamers and more casual players. Many characters lack traditional stereotypical gendered characteristics. The visual language is universal — a.k.a. meme-able. Everyone knows who Mario and Luigi are. Only a select, elite few know the lesbian subplot to Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town.

"A lack of specificity is also what makes characters ripe for queer readings," Shaw says. "Things that are more cartoony also have a long history of being read queerly precisely because they help display how constructed gender norms are. That is if all it takes is a bow to make Pac-Man into Ms. Pac-Man, maybe we don't have to get so caught up in biological binary gender determinism."

Expand your mind. Here are the internet’s best queer Nintendo memes:

Machoke/Machamp is the go-to bara Pokemón

Bara is a genre of art, literature, and media from Japan created by gay men and geared towards a gay male audience. Most of the men depicted in this genre are muscular, have body hair, and a "bear" body type.

Muscular and thicc, Machoke and Machamp Pokémon are generally the default bara Pokémon. We're not sure why Nintendo went out of its way to sexualize these characters, but we’re not going to kink-shame anyone here.

Before the game introduced a female character, the default Harvest Moon character was a straight male. While you built your imaginary farm, you also had the ability to romance and marry any of the eligible bachelorettes in town.

For gaymers out there, this was a very "meh" situation, but for all the budding lesbians who were also dedicated fans of the game, this was pretty much their sexual awakening. This comment thread and meme says it better than we ever could.

The imaginary game title alone is suggestive enough. But taking it a step further and turning the characters from Super Smash Bros. into a troupe of gay bears and daddies is pure meme gold. Nintendo needs to make this a reality ASAP.

Big Gay Al is...gay

Surprise, surprise: South Park's Big Gay Al is gay. He's even a playable character in South Park Rally. Alas, Big Gay Al isn't about to marry anyone in the game, nor is the he the best representation of the queer community. At least he exists in a place other than our imaginations.

Tony, a dandy if there ever was one, is rumored to have an "unrequited crush" on his BFF, Jeff. Just look at the dreamy letter he sent his friend and tell us something *spicy* isn't going on.

This Super Smash Bros. comicproves Kirby is trans/non-binary, and Bayonetta is an ally

Neither a performative femme nor a hyper-masc blob, Kirby lacks all of the traditional gender markers. They are a pinkish blob with feet, which in LGBTQ fandom, leads some to believe they’re non-binary. Bayonetta, a high cis femme who nonetheless tries to be open, is Kirby’s natural ally.

And you thought Bayonetta's legs were only meant to stay in Bayonetta 1 & 2

Every character can be queer-presenting with Bayonetta’s legs. Sometime in 2015, folks started editing images of her legs onto various Nintendo characters, upping their femme appearance, and giving them all distinct, gender-non-normative presentations.

Depending on the version of the game, Birdo identifies as both a female and a male character. As a fictional creation, Birdo has yet to come out for themselves. Some fans therefore classify Birdo as gender fluid. Others insist that Birdo, whatever pronouns they use, exclusively dates Yoshi. What a power couple!

Birdo, a femme who can reproduce asexually & needs no man, is the most explicit queer representation we'll ever get from Nintendo

Link is feeling his full Gerudo fantasy in his gorgeous midriff-baring outfit. With his long blonde hair and twinky physique, this gender-bending Hylian truly has it all.

Gorons don’t play by your gender rules

In case you need to brush up on your Zelda lore, the Gerudo tribe is made up entirely of women who don’t allow males, otherwise known as "voe," to enter their towns and fortresses. But Gorons?That rule doesn’t apply to them.

You can't tell the difference between a male and a female Goron based on their appearance alone. Fans even speculate that female Gorons don’t exist. Wow! Amazing how genitalia doesn’t define gender.

Ghirahim from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is the true queer Nintendo icon

This extremely positive and buff fish-man was always stanning Link in the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But perhaps he had more than admiration for the young hero?

In a weird Shape of Water twist, Sidon became Link’s love interest — at least in the eyes of stans on the internet. Fans of this non-canon couple made tons of memes about the sexual tension between the two characters. Honestly, we're on board with this ship, and we're glad Link doesn’t allow scales and fins to deter him from being with the one he loves. (Sorry, Zelda.)

The Sheik gender debate has been happening since her debut in Ocarina of Time in 1998. This discussion actually produced a bunch of memes in which fans manipulated the character's gender.

Despite her masculine-of-center presentation, Nintendo confirmed that Sheik is, in fact, a girl, and that Zelda sadly doesn’t change her gender as she pleases. But just because Nintendo says something doesn't make it true (at least in the eyes of serious fans).

Twink from Paper Mario knows where his body stands in the gay community

Samus Aran is a transgender woman according to fans and, to some extent, the game's creators.It's great to see transgender representation in the gaming community, even if the miserable people of the internet have a problem with it.

Every Super Smash Bros. character voguing like Bayonetta will give you life

If every character danced like Bayonetta, the world would be a better, queerer place. Just take a look at this delightfully queer/queer-adjacent fan montage.

"Wario is a messy, sassy, playful polyamorous bottom," Autostraddle wrote earlier this year. "Though he works out constantly and is ripped (look at those arms!), he’s a sweetie who loves playing games and pranks and subverting masculine stereotype."

Among the Super Mario characters, Wario ranks eighth in terms of queerness. Thanks for being such a leader in the community, Wario!

Isabelle from Animal Crossing is unabashedly pansexual

09. Isabelle

Isabelle will always have a crush on the player's character, no matter the gender picked by the player in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, making her a pansexual. pic.twitter.com/dvRF6k0DYR

Isabelle from Animal Crossing has been known to have a mean crush on the main player, regardless of their gender identity. She was pansexual even before most of the internet learned what pansexuality was from Janelle Monae.

There's a whole section of queer theory dedicated to Waluigi's gender identity. I wouldn't recommend digging too far in, but the basic premise is that Waluigi is Luigi's queer-mirrored self. All of Luigi's homosexual fantasies are projected onto and experienced vicariously through Waluigi.

Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Vivian is reportedly described as a trans woman in the Japanese version of the game — not, of course, in the English version. Characters repeatedly make fun of her gender presentation which is trash, because Vivian would score so hard at a Brooklyn queer party.

Princess Peach from Super Mario

In 2016, Splinter declared Princess Peach a feminist queer icon. They were 100 percent right. Princess was a switchy proud high femme way back in the 1990s, when feminism was a dirty word and tops ruled the world.

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